Stone Mountain siblings, local former NFL player and wife part of ‘Amazing Race 19′8:00 am September 22, 2011, by Rodney Ho

Pine Mountain residents Amani and Marcus Pollard will compete for $1 million on "The Amazing Race" starting Sunday, Sept. 25. CREDIT: CBSFor the first time ever, Georgia will have not just one – but two – teams in “The Amazing Race” for season 19 starting Sunday at 8 p.m.

The two teams are:

- Amani and Marcus Pollard: husband-wife team with four kids from Pine Mountain. Marcus had a solid 14-year career as a tight end in the NFL, retiring in 2008 after one game with the Atlanta Falcons. He now coaches high school football. Amani owns a boutique.

- Jennifer and Justin Young – A brother-sister team from Stone Mountain. He’s a medical resident. She’s a special education teacher.

I interviewed both couples though as standard with these shows, restricted by what we could talk about related to the show itself.

Marcus, 39, and Amani, 36, hope their strong marriage will guide them to victory and the $1 million. “We may not be the fastest or strongest or smartest,” Amani said in the promo video above. “But ultimately, we want to finish first.”

Their audition tape was done by their oldest son Myles, who is all of nine years old. Their kids (ages 3 to 9) supported them doing the show though it meant they had to disappear for a month. “We promised to come back bearing gifts,” Marcus said. “We had to come back full force!” And the kids had to keep their mouths shut about the show until CBS announced the cast, so the gifts were a good incentive.

Though neither are “Amazing Race” experts, they had seen the show enough and studied tape before they left to understand the challenges they faced. They worked out quite a bit to get ready, too. “I couldn’t have him make me look bad!” Amani said.

Interestingly, even during pit stops, she said, the competing couples didn’t interact all that much. “What you see is what you get in terms of alliances and friendships during filming,” Amani said.

And though both have traveled quite a bit, they hadn’t done much internationally beyond Aruba, Jamaica and the Virgin Islands. “We had very little experience getting on planes in different countries and going through customs,” Marcus said. The entire trip, he added, “was more mentally challenging than I thought it would be.”

“Sitting at home, it’s easy to say you have the answer to everything,” Amani said. “Then we’re put in these situations and it’s like, ‘What in the world?’ ”

Jennifer and Justin are siblings who used to fight a lot growing up but grew to appreciate each other as friends as they got older.

Both were drawn into “The Amazing Race” by an aunt and believed they have the right rapport and intelligence to win the race. “We’ve got great smiles and great attitude,” said Jennifer. “We wanted to have fun and push ourselves to do our best.” She said they came in with a goal to play with integrity. (Will they? They couldn’t say.)

While Justin has been to Mexico and London and Jennifer has been to the Caribbean, neither has exactly filled up their passports until this adventure. “This is truly a Golden Ticket,” said Justin, who will start working in urgent care n Johns Creek in two weeks before pursuing a residency next year in emergency medicine.

Justin, a rock climber who took time off from residency to work at REI, said if they win the big prize, he’ll pay down his medical school debt and give their parents money to travel around the world themselves. Jennifer, who recently moved to Newark, N.J. to teach elementary school kids, would like to go to grad school and get her PhD.

“There’s a distinct reason why this show is so watchable,” Justin noted, “why it’s so enjoyable, why it continues to win Emmys year after year. This is truly a great production full of people who are phenomenal.”

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

Describe what you do: I took time off from surgery residency and am now considering a change into emergency medicine. I plan to work part-time as an ER physician and at REI, while transitioning back into clinical training as an emergency medicine resident in 2012.

How will these skills help you win The Race? Focus, drive, attention to detail and endurance are skills essential to surviving residency. I know they will help on even the toughest legs of The Race.

Three words to describe you: Funny, observant and adventurous.

Favorite hobbies: Watching movies, rock climbing and skiing.

What famous person reminds you of yourself? Charlie Brown

What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Tina Turner

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Becoming a doctor.

What scares you most about traveling? Accidentally getting lost in dangerous areas or offending local people. I would like to represent the U.S. in a positive way.

What excites you most about traveling? The novelty of it. I love adventures, seeing new places and meeting new people.

Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: She shuts down when she gets hungry or sleepy and has a tendency to get really mean when this happens.

Pet peeve about your teammate: Her hunger and her sleep rage – she can get pretty irrational when she feels she has been wronged.

What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Fiji.

What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other then winning one million bucks)? I hope to gain an even stronger relationship and give her another reason to be proud of me as her big brother.

Jennifer Young

Age: 26

Hometown: Stone Mountain, Ga.

Connection to your teammate: Sister

Current occupation: Special Education Teacher

Describe what you do: I teach kids to reach beyond the limits of their labels.

How will these skills help you win The Race? Teaching special education has taught me that the sky is the limit and the only stumbling block is you. Patience, caring and understanding come with this job too.

Three words to describe you: Outgoing, determined and loving.

Favorite hobbies: Reading, napping and watching TV.

What famous person reminds you of yourself? Taraji P. Henson because she is classy and sassy.

What famous person reminds you of your teammate? Taye Diggs because he’s smart, charming and always smiling.

What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? I’m very proud of my teaching career as a whole. It takes a special person to teach and an extra special person to teach special education.

What scares you most about traveling? Losing my passport and having to rot in some foreign prison for a crime I didn’t commit - a la "Brokedown Palace."

What excites you most about traveling? Meeting new people and seeing beautiful places.

Biggest challenge you and your teammate will face on The Race together: I’m always the kid sister in his eyes. He doesn’t always listen to me or take my word without double checking. This Race is fast and we won’t have time for that.

Pet peeve about your teammate: His whistling. Arrgh!

What country and place would you most like to visit and why? Italy. I am fascinated and caught up in the beauty of the people, art, language and architecture.

What do you hope to accomplish by running The Race (other then winning one million bucks)? I hope to grow closer and have a good time. We want to see the world and meet, greet and touch the people in it.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

I am sad too. They were great together after that one spat at the start....

It is always so sad when one team member makes a mistake...I always think they will be kicking themselves forever. But stuff happens, and you do the best you can. I liked how Justin was quick to say we are a TEAM.

Logged

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

On The Amazing Race, if decisions aren't made in a split second sometimes, it can throw off your entire leg or even cost you the race. No one knows that better than Justin and Jennifer, after hesitating at a Road Block because Jennifer couldn't find her clue and wasn't sure where to go next. The siblings fell to the bottom of the pack and were unable to make up the time that they had lost. Today, we talked to them in an exclusive interview about their experiences running The Amazing Race.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Whose idea was it to try out for the race?A. Jennifer: I think we kind of both decided that it would be fun and something to do. Our family said, "You'd be great, you'd be funny. I'd watch you!" We figured out the deadline and it was a day away. We made our tape and sent it off the next day.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I thought you were a strong team who could've gone all the way. Going in, were you feeling that you would be frontrunners?A. Justin: I definitely did! We talked about it from the start. When we applied, we said, "This is something we can totally do and definitely win!" It was a lot harder than we thought. But overall, I thought that we were a great team.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Speaking of it being harder than you thought, what was the toughest part for you about running the race?A. Jennifer: I think the hardest thing was communication. The challenges were pretty okay, they were manageable stuff. Communication is sometimes something that you can't tuck away.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Jennifer, why did you wait so long at the Road Block for another team?A. Jennifer: We delivered to three separate places in the same village. See, I still don't even know if it's the same village! I was like, "Somebody has to come here. I know somebody was behind me!" And then I thought maybe I had missed them. I just lost all track of time and if I had realized I had been there that long, I would've hopped on that bike and hotfooted it back.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Justin, it must be tough to sit there helplessly and wait for your teammate to come back.A. Justin: It was a little awkward. At first, you're excited and pumped and ready for her to come back and keep moving. After I saw one team come back and another and another and then Marcus and Amani, it became a little frustrating. I was mostly worried that she wasn't run over by an elephant. At that point, it was important to just go.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: I love that you finished strong, even though you knew you were at the bottom of the pack.A. Justin: That was definitely important to us. You never know. The race is unpredictable. We had the Double U-Turn that could help us out. You never know what could happen to other teams. You don't know you're out until you hear Phil say it's so.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Was it tough for you to hear Phil say those words on the mat? Like I said, I really thought you guys could go all the way to the final leg.A. Jennifer: We thought so too. Phil really is a great guy. When he said he was sorry, I thought he genuinely felt bad about it. We had a lot of fun on the mat and in between legs. You take it with a smile. No matter what, you're still blessed to have made it this far. You can't even pay to do the things we got to do! Yeah, I would've loved to make it all the way with my brother, but it was still pretty good.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What did you take away from the race that you brought back into your daily life?A. Jennifer: I think for me, it was just learning when to be quiet and listen and learning how to respond to people. It's not always what you think is a joke or what you think isn't that serious. It might be hurtful to someone else.A. Justin: For me, I think it's just appreciating the adventure that life presents you. Taking the time and not getting caught up in everything at work that bogs you down. Take the time to experience things you really enjoy. The race really opened my eyes to that. I'm glad I got that opportunity.

Fate on "The Amazing Race" is always a fickle thing. Just ask Justin and Jennifer Young.

One week after reaching the Pit Stop in first in one part of Malawi (they were penalized for not paying a driver and ended up in second), the bickering siblings were the last team to get to host Phil Keoghan in a different part of Malawi and were sent packing (not every week can be a Non-Elimination Leg).

Make that "formerly bickering siblings."

Justin and Jennifer spent the first couple "Amazing Race" episodes constantly mid-argument (with Jennifer as the regular instigator), but then they started getting along and making geeky pop culture references and having fun. That made it all the more disappointing when a forgotten Roadblock clue left Jennifer standing around an African village waiting for further instruction as one team after another passed them by.

Justin Young: I actually watched it here in New York. I was in town for the marathon. I ran with Ethan, Liz, Marie, Jeremy and Sandy. Cindy and Ernie and Jennifer were in town to watch, so we all ended up watching together yesterday at a bar in New York City. It was another riveting episode, for sure, but I think that the people who watched with us and our friends who watched with us were definitely sad to see us go.

HitFix: How was the experience, Jennifer?

Jennifer Young: I actually was at the same dinner place as everyone else, but I decided to go and catch the train before the episode came on. I knew it was gonna be a tough one to watch, so I went ahead and headed home. Then I watched it alone this morning and just kinda took it all in.

HitFix: I'm sorry to have to ask this, since I know you've been answering the same question all morning long, but could you go through what you remember from that Roadblock and how that compared to what we saw on TV?

Jennifer: They cut me a break, kinda, because they could have done the "One hour later" kinda thing, because I was standing out there going back and forth to the main road quite a few times, so it could have been worse. I feel terrible for wasting as much time as I did, because it was totally on me. I can almost guarantee that we wouldn't have gotten eliminated if I had brought my clue or if I'd just turned around and came back as soon as I dropped off my fish. It was rough, because it was definitely on my shoulders that day and I let our team down, but Justin's been really gracious about it and everybody's been really sweet. I got my first street recognition today leaving the bagel shop. A lady honked her horn and she was like, "Oh no! Oh no! I was watching last night. I'm so sad!" So everyone was really supportive and I think we turned a corner with fans and they really felt our pain yesterday.

HitFix: It was really frustrating to watch. Is there any kind of clarification you can give, something that maybe we wouldn't understand about how you were feeling in that moment?

Jennifer: No, I think it was written all over my face, that anxiety of "What do I do? Do I go back and waste time going back and then maybe having to come back to this village to drop off something to somebody else? What do I do?" It was just an anxiety-ridden afternoon where I just didn't know where to go or when to go or if I should commit to one thing or another. My gut feeling was just to go back to the beginning, but I should have done it a lot sooner.

HitFix: Justin, in Sunday's episode, Jennifer said that she lost track of time while this was all happening. I assume you had a better sense of time. How long do you think you were standing there?

Justin: We were standing there for quite a bit and after the other teams left, it almost seemed like Amani and Marcus, they finished up the Speed Bump and then Marcus sped back on the bike and was done with the Roadblock, so I think we were probably behind by like an hour.

HitFix: And then you also had to know there was the possibility of the U-Turn coming up. As you doing the canoe task, did you have any sense of what the other task was like? And having seen it done on TV last night, do you think you could have completed it?

Justin: I think we could have completed it, for sure, but it would have taken a lot of effort, especially after the canoes. For me, in the moment, I was really more concerned about whether we got U-Turned in the first place. Honestly, we were so far behind and I think everybody else got a sense of that, so there was no need to add insult to injury and U-Turn us as well.

HitFix: So you weren't surprised by the lack of U-Turn? In a lot of seasons, there's been a cutthroat aspect to the U-Turns, but this season it felt like maybe everybody liked everybody else and nobody wanted to be *that* team?

Justin: Yeah, this season we all seemed to get along really really well and they're all good people, but we also kinda had discussions, like "What would you do? What would you do if you came up against a U-Turn" and for us, we all said that if it came down to it, we would use it on somebody who was immediately on our heels to try to make sure that we got to the Pit Stop, but otherwise, if there was no need to use it, nobody felt compelled to have to basically hurt anybody in that way.

HitFix: That seems so... warm and fuzzy... Does that sound right to you, Jennifer?

Jennifer: Yeah, we had a warm and fuzzy Race. This weekend was testament to that, because we reunited with some of our castmates while Justin ran the marathon. Justin ran, Liz and Marie ran, Jeremy and Sandy ran and Cindy and Ernie came out to support everybody and I came into town, too. So it was really amazing and this is a great group of people. Yeah, some people may have done things along the way that weren't exactly the friendliest, but I really think that for the most part we ran this Race good-naturedly and it was pretty cool. So "warm and fuzzy" it was.

HitFix: For the first couple episodes, it looked as if you guys were constantly bickering and then suddenly it stopped for the last few episodes. Was that a fair representation of how your journey went?

Jennifer: Yeah, I think we started out and we didn't communicate really well with each other about what we needed. If we're going to the movies back home and I roll my eyes, that's one thing, but if we're in the middle of Taiwan and I roll my eyes, it means something completely different and it's a lot more frustrating. So we just had to learn how to deal with one another and how to respond to each other and it was a quick turnaround for us. Justin's a surgeon and he has to think on his feet all the time. I teach special ed and I have to make adjustments when I get a new student. We adjusted to each other and it worked out pretty well.

HitFix: What was that adjusting process like for you, Justin?

Justin: I think it was clear that we were both frustrated in the beginning, but I knew that we were a good, solid team. We were still doing well even when we ended up fighting, but I knew we could be that much better if we got that out of the way. So that was just an extra variable that was unnecessary. I think over the few episodes that we were there, we did get the chance to really shine and step up to the plate and I was just glad that we left on such a positive note and in a good way.

HitFix: Following up on that... We've dwelled on the negatives, but you guys had a couple really strong second-place legs down the stretch. Is there anything you're particularly proud of in those performances?

Jennifer: I think just getting it together and not bickering and not fighting and just enjoying the moment was really what counted. And for me, I did enjoy that we got to see so many places and go so many places and just do it together, it was just a really special experience.

Justin: For me, what was really surprising and what was really rewarding is when you're in those moments. You don't really think of it at first, because you're all so huddled and bunched together, but then when you get to that serendipitous moment where you realize that you're actually really far ahead or about to finish in a good place, it really does highlight how awesome the experience is. It was great. It really was great to just work hard, work together and just be a good, solid team.

HitFix: For each of you, do you have a favorite Race moment that maybe we didn't see on TV?

Jennifer: They do a good job of showing at least a small part of everything you did. For me, the best and most fun was what we did in Phuket with the coral and the being in the ocean. I am a water-child and I love being in the ocean. I could float in the ocean all day if you let me. So that was really awesome. I think it was written on our faces for that entire leg. We pretty much smiled the whole time. Maybe we had a few bumps in the kayak, but we were mostly smiling and it really was the best.

Justin: I think for me, Thailand was definitely a highlight, but I also enjoyed the moments a little bit behind-the-scenes that they didn't put into the show where we got to bond together as teams and really get to know everybody. I know you said it was a touchy-feely or a warm-and-fuzzy season, but we really did have a good time and we made some solid friendships while we were out there.

HitFix: Was there anything notable about the overnight at Kumbali Village?

Jennifer: We carried our beds and slept on our beds. They always make sure that we're well-fed and it was just a beautiful experience. Sometimes you do get so focused that by the time you get to that Pit Stop, that you just chill out and you're quiet, but still... you're in Africa and not only that, but the Warm Heart of Africa, and the people really were beautiful, amazing and wonderful. The women who were singing there when we checked in, it was touching and it was one of the best mat experiences along the way.

HitFix: A number of fans have been reacting to the number of Non-Elimination Legs at the front of the Race this season. Did that feel unusual to you guys as you were racing?

Justin: I think it seemed a little unusual, but at the same time I really wish we'd ended up with one of them. I was hoping that maybe they would extend that luck to us. But yeah, it's one of those things. It is an incredible show, but at the same time, it's a game show and so we're at the mercy of the rules of that show. And yeah, will it make a huge difference? Hmmm... Probably not. But it means that there are some good episodes coming up and I think people just have to tune in and just faith that The Race will give them good episodes.

HitFix: And just as a last question, how did the Marathon go?

Justin: It was an incredible experience. I'm so glad I did it. We all were raising money for Ethan's charity, Grassroots Soccer, and I started out strong and did a great half-marathon and then when I finally got to Mile 15, my legs started to cramp up, so it got a little hairy. But once I got to Central Park and ran to the finish, it was just such an incredible, beautiful experience and the moments I was really down, I ran into Cindy and Ernie and Jennifer and they ran with me a little bit and it was great. I'm glad everybody participated, finished and had a good time.

HitFix: How much pain are you in today?

Justin: Not as much as I thought I would be. I'm actually doing OK. Just a little bit of muscle aches and some unfortunate chafing, but other than that, I'm in good shape and in good spirits.

HitFix: And how is Ethan doing?

Justin: Ethan has been great. He's been very positive. He was really committed to doing the marathon and finishing the marathon and he did an excellent job and had a great time. It's just really inspiring to know that of all the good that he does and the things that are going on with him, he really is committed and focused on continuing the fight and living his life. It's just beautiful to get the chance to catch up with him and to really see that first-hand. He's doing well and in a good mind-set right now. We're definitely supportive and I hope everything goes well for him.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan